Pleading the fifth

I really have enjoyed the news reports about the letter sent from the attorney for Monica Goodling to the Senate Judiciary Committee. I'm talking about the letter wherein she announced that Goodling (Alberto Gonzales' White House liaison) would be invoking her fifth amendment right against self-incrimination in the Purgegate scandal because of the "hostile and questionable environment" on Capitol Hill, and wherein she cited the perjury conviction of Scooter Libby as evidence of that "hostile and questionable environment."

Here's Bloomberg:

Monica Goodling, who helped coordinate the dismissals as the attorney general's White House liaison, will invoke her Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, her lawyer said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee. She will refuse to be interviewed by committee lawyers and decline an invitation to testify at a public hearing, said attorney John M. Dowd, citing the "legally perilous'' environment of congressional probes.

This is actually important, though. This person works in the executive branch of the federal government and she's basically saying, without a hint of irony, "I'm not going to testify because you will punish me when I, like Scooter, lie to your faces".